5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, 6 namely, if any man is beyond reproach, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, who are not accused of dissipation, or rebellious. 7 For the overseer must be beyond reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of dishonest gain, 8 but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, 9 holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to reprove those who contradict. – Titus 1:5-9
He was a father, a married man, with two sons. One son was a homosexual and resentful of his Christian father and another had issues with pedophilia, though never convicted or accused of publicly or privately as far as anyone knew.
While same sexl or pedofilic urges may be commonplace with sinful hearts of any male or female, these conditions may not be an issue with many people in most professions, however, these were characteristic of the two sons of a very popular teaching pastor of a large and crowing church.
Prior to this situation becoming a crisis in the church, the pediophila-natured son’s matter was a private affair that was only known within the family of the pastor. The pastor-father and church volunteer son had on-going sessions that were not disclosed to the church ministry.
However, an article came out out of the blue blowing up the private matter accusing the pastor of irregular and morally conflicted behavior by protecting his son, a son who was a regular volunteer in children’s ministry at their church. Apparently, the suffering from temptations with children that not yet materialized in any offensive outward behavior, but as the article judged, the son was like a ticking time bomb of sorts.
This article highlighted this precarious, private and potentially injurious situation which, as one would expect, began a schism that church.
It was not apparent in the whistle blower article, but subsequent updates revealed that the writer of the article was the Pastor’s estranged homosexual son, who happened to have this situation revealed by his own brother in confidence.
One one hand, the pastor should not have been keeping this condition secret from the church board, however, the article had retribution written all over it, an estranged son’s effort to drop a bomb on his father’s popular ministry.
This situation occurred a few years before I had reached a point of surrender to Christ and my feelings were mixed, initially siding with the pastor who tried to keep the matter private between he and his wife (also an ordained minister) and son.
While it appears to be an obvious act of spite or retribution against his own father and at the further expense of his brother. I must go back to Paul’s exhortations in the letter to Titus.
…the husband of one wife, having faithful children, who are not accused of dissipation, or rebellious.
This raises the question of any church ministry, or person stepping into the ministry, who is willing to disregard these exhortations by the Bible. It’s a failure that begins when accommodating cultural norms bending towards sin and debauchery, thinking that it doesn’t matter if a church pastor can rise to Biblical standards of leadership.
All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:16-17
It’s a twisted two way street when a church decidedly departs from Scriptural innerancy and authority. When a church is wanting to be a popular church, or dependent on community acceptance, they may accept pastoral candidates who have skeletons in the closet but deem any damage unlikely.
On the other hand, and this was not this case cited above, there are institutional promotions just because we want to provide positions for senior people who’ve towed the line and need to keep the appearance that the institution and those who promote people, not by merit, into serious leadership positions.
I am sure this happens within the ranks of all instutions, from churches to the military. Well, in peace time this may be of small consequence. But when a crisis arises, churches are divided or soldiers or sailors are killed due to incompetence.
Ironically, the more institutionalized an organization is, it may contribute to the over reliance on sinful men, if not actually poor leaders, to highlight doctrinal standards, when those standard need to emanate, in the case of the Church, from the Spiritual leadership of fathers and husband (in conjunction with mothers/wives in their assigned roles) to the over ritualized institutionalized church.
In other words, the church is not there to act as a surrogate for a man’s responsibility in the Church of Jesus Christ, under the Lordship and High Priest who is Jesus Christ. Yet in today;s Age where we have abdicated the rugged individualism for useless idolatrous entertainment, we have seen persecuted Christians in 3rd world countries exhibiting more Godly virtue than the milquetoast man in the United States.
Leadership qualification and the building of leaders shall not be taken lightly. A leader must adhere to higher levels of integrity and proven behavior.
What standard needs to be met and which are being lowered just to accomodate a cultural norm? Is the Gospel being placed at its proper priority and are Marriages being empowered and supported per the guidances provided by Scripture.
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When institutional weakness run its course
In the popular HBO series about a WWII 101st Airborne company, Banks of Brothers, there is this situation when Easy Company is taken over by Lt. Norman Dike. An officer who is promoted due to seniority and given an opportunity for a combat command that, if he can survive the post, would grease the slides for future advancement. The problem is, he is an incompetent officer not fit for command, and his experienced men know it.
The problem runs to its conclusion and in the middle of a major assault on a town, the advance of Easy Company is stalled in an open field because because Dike freezes, unable to make any decisions, much less under the duress of a pitched fire fight with his men stuck in in an indefensible position. Men are becoming casualties, the situation becomes even more dire.
Recently promoted to acting Battalion Commander, Dick Winters orders Lt, Ronald Speirs, the polar opposite kind of officer to Dike, to run into the fray and take over command of Easy Company, which he does with remarkable effectiveness. The rest of what occurs is legendary.
I just wanted to point out the problem of lowering standards for any job that carries a responsibility where souls and lives can be put in jeopardy, whether it is a church, a combat unit, or head of a family. Whereas, the wisdom of the guidance of the Bible offers divine wisdom that when viewed as a benchmark is quite capable of seeing through the effects of sin on our judgments and qualifications.
For a one minute explanation of the Gospel from the late Pastor John MacArthur, watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCP9UcC7BzE
For a review of the Ten Commandments: https://www.challenyee.com/the-ten-commandments/
ACT LIKE MEN a short talk given by John MacArthur (click on the link)
All quoted excerpts have footnotes removed, usually from Legacy Standard Bible (LSB), sometimes from New International Version (NIV), on rare occasion the Amplified Bible (AMP).
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29 July 2024